From Death to Damnation
by AuraWielder
Summary: After Pokeballs are invented, Arceus is outraged with the human race for keeping Pokemon as 'slaves' and plans to wipe the entire race. When Palkia dares to stand up to her, she banishes him to the worst realm imaginable... "How's Hell for you, Palkia?" EDIT: Cancelled.
1. Murder: Day Zero

From Death to Damnation

Chapter 1: Murder: Day Zero

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><p>"Mom, PLEASE reconsider what you're doing!"<p>

"And why SHOULD I?"

Palkia was stuck in an argument with his mother, and the Goddess of all Pokémon, Arceus. It was very typical for most children to get in a fight with their parents; all kids do now and again. However, most arguments generally don't involve billions of lives at stake.

Palkia knew what his mother was doing was insane. It was crazy. It was outrageous. It made his mother look a sadistic psychopath. Arceus was on the verge of erasing every single trace of humans on the planet.

Now, one would have to ask, just WHY would a Goddess even consider destroying her creations?

It was the creation of Pokéballs by the humans. Arceus had no qualms about humans and Pokémon working together and was, in fact, someone she enjoyed seeing them do. However, once the Pokéballs were invented, it gave her the illusion that Pokémon were being kept at slaves by the humans. To say that it made her mad would be an absolute UNDERSTATEMENT. The day Pokéballs were invented was also the day Arceus would begin her planning of the genocide of the human race.

She didn't want to show them any mercy. She had the genocide perfectly planned out, too. It would be very simple. She would first create an extremely contagious virus that only affected humans. Anyone who caught this incurable virus was doomed to die a slow, painful, and agonizing death. She deduced that within a month, all humans on the planet would be dead. Then she would take it upon herself to erase every human-created object that ever existed. A long and tedious job, to be sure, but part of her looked forward to it. Then finally, Pokémon could live in peace again without the fear of being captured.

No one knew anything about this until she announced it just a few days ago.

Three of Arceus' creations: Dialga, master of time; Palkia, master of space; and Giratina, master of antimatter, all desperately tried to get her to reconsider. Dialga was slightly cynical and distrusting of humans, but even she saw a mass genocide of them as taking things way too far. Giratina, even someone who despised humans and the idea of capturing Pokémon, had to take Dialga's side. Palkia, however, was more optimistic of the humans than his siblings were. He believed that, despite the circumstances, humans had to have some good in them. He could never adhere to the idea that all humans were heartless bastards, either.

Even though Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina all held opposing views on humans, they shared one belief in common; Arceus was going way too far.

Dialga and Giratina, unfortunately, were too scared to face their mother and tell her this. They knew that Arceus had a HORRIBLE temper whenever she was angry, and she would very often unleash this temper on anyone who dared to disagree with her.

Palkia was one of those individuals.

"I know you hate the idea of Pokéballs and being captured… but wiping out the human race is taking things WAY TOO FAR, MOM!"

Arceus ignored her son's desperate plea as she continued analyzing her plans. The genocide was to be carried out tomorrow, and Palkia knew changing his mother's mind had to be either now or never.

Dialga and Giratina feared for their brother's safety. Both of them had to admit, he had more guts to challenge his mother than they did. But Arceus was capable of anything when she was furious, and I mean ANYTHING.

"You know very well why I'm doing this, Palkia. These humans deserve to die for keeping my creations in slavery."

"But… it's not really slavery. I went down to the surface and…"

Arceus turned around and looked at Palkia, with daggers in her eyes. "You mean to tell me that you went down to the surface, WHEN I EXPLICITLY FORBADE YOU FROM DOING SO?"

"Hear me out, please. I know I disobeyed your orders, but I had to…"

"Had to what?" she interrupted, snarling at him. "Had to just be a fancy-shamcy rebel who thinks that he can do anything he wants just because he's the son of a GOD!"

"Mom," Palkia pleaded again. "It's not like…"

"Oh, my mistake." she replied with sarcasm dripping from her teeth. "It's not like that AT ALL. I see it now. You went down there to warn them of my plans. You've sided with the HUMANS, haven't you?"

"No… I mean yes… wait, I mean… I just think genocide is uncalled for! Can't we come up with a compromise?"

Dialga made her voice heard in their argument. "Mom, as much as I hate to admit it, Palkia DOES have a point. Perhaps you should reconsider."

Arceus gave her daughter a hateful glare and said to her in spite, "You'd better shut your trap you bitch, before things end up REALLY bad for all of you guys!"

"HEY!" Palkia shouted, directing Arceus' attention back at him. "You might be the Goddess of all Pokémon, and even my mother, but you have NO RIGHT to talk to my sister like that! You don't know what you're doing!"

"Oh, there's that REBEL again! Someone's being a VERY disobedient child!" she shouted, now losing her patience and more than a few shreds of her sanity. "You need a good lesson to put you in your place! One that will make you think twice before even questioning my authority!"

Palkia's look of hatred towards his mother now turned to one of fear. He had invoked the wrath of Arceus, an act that no one should ever do, unless they LIKE dying in slow, horrible, and very graphic ways. Arceus looked at her son with vengeance in her eyes.

"M-Mom?" he stuttered fearfully. "W-What are you…?"

"I know the PERFECT punishment for you."

Palkia looked at Arceus gently, begging silently for a humane punishment. How… bad of a punishment could his own mother give him? It couldn't be anything TOO drastic, right?

The aura of hatred that Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina all felt around Arceus suggested otherwise. She quickly enclosed herself and Palkia inside an impenetrable shield, leaving Dialga and Giratina helplessly watching.

"A-Are you going to… kill me?" he whispered. "You… wouldn't do that to your own son, right?"

Arceus was still too blinded by rage to head Palkia's desperate cry of mercy and instead proceeded to show him just WHAT she had planned.

Arceus levitated Palkia in the air, still inside the psychic shield. Palkia felt his body tense up, and couldn't move. Then, with just a single thought from Arceus…

SNAP!

Palkia screamed in pain as he felt one of his bones, his right femur, snap. He couldn't believe it. He didn't think Arceus would go this far. His own mother… his own mother was going to KILL him. Piece by piece; fracture by fracture.

Dialga and Giratina knew that Arceus had gone off of the deep end, and tried to penetrate her psychic shield, but even their combined efforts couldn't match their mother's.

SNAP

Palkia grimaced in pain again when he felt a bone in his left arm snap. He looked at his mother, who had a sickeningly sadistic smile on her face. This couldn't be happening. This had to be an awful, AWFUL nightmare.

"Mom… stop it. Please." he begged to no avail. He began to tear at the fact that his own mother, who had raised and taught him right and wrong, was slowing murdering him.

Dialga and Giratina kept trying to penetrate the shield, firing off a Shadow Force and Roar of Time. It shook, but came nowhere NEAR close to breaking.

SNAP

This time, his wrist was fractured, leaving it limp. After she bended the wrist back further, much to Palkia's horror, his blood began to leak out. Drops of blood touched the bottom of the psychic shield which enclosed them, vaporizing instantly upon contact.

"Mommy…" he pleaded further, breaking down in sole desperation. "It hurts…"

Arceus grinned. "Do you want to know what I have planned for you after you die?"

Palkia couldn't respond, with blood beginning to clog up his throat. Dialga, outside the shield and watching her mother brutally murder her brother, could only look on with a hopeless desire to help him. She silently cried.

"Well, I'll tell you anyway. I'm going to send you to the worst realm in the galaxies that you could never imagine in your most terrifying dreams." she stated calmly.

SNAP

Palkia felt his metal wings rip off from his shoulders, leaving a bloody gash where the wings were once attached. His wings… the wings that his mother had once carefully crafted for him… were just ripped off like that.

"You WILL learn not to mess with my authority. After all, there's only one way down where you're going. And to seal the deal…" she smiled sadistically again.

"No… mama… plea-"

SNAP

That time, Palkia's neck broke, cutting off his oxygen supply to his brain and instantly killing him.

"PALKIA!" Dialga and Giratina both shouted in horror.

"That takes care of that." she said to herself. Instead of bothering to dispose of the body (and having to pay for FUNERAL services), she teleported Palkia's carcass to the same realm that she sentenced his spirit.

"I'm being generous." she said. "He should be happy; at least he gets his body back."

Dialga and Giratina were left speechless. They simply did not know how to react to their mother's reaction. Even Palkia's requests for mercy didn't faze her. He begged. He pleaded. He CRIED. And still, Arceus showed no hesitation. Arceus was known for her temper… but this was just uncalled for.

Still, Dialga and Giratina BOTH knew better than to rant to Arceus about her actions, unless they wanted to die the same way Palkia did. Arceus turned to Giratina and Dialga.

"The plans are still on." she informed them. "Palkia's rebelliousness doesn't change a thing." She then deactivated the shield and walked off to her quarters, where she continued perfecting her plans.

Dialga and Giratina looked at each other.

"What do we do?" Giratina asked the master of time.

"I don't know. I don't anything about Mom anymore. I don't know if I even want to call her Mom anymore. But one thing's for certain. We NEED to put a stop to her plans."

"Wherever she sentenced Palkia's spirit to…" Giratina muttered to himself. "I just hope he's OK."

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><p><em>Pokémon © Nintendo  Game Freak_

Well, I'm glad I tried something new! This is probably going to be one of my darker works, and as a heads-up, a couple of Christian elements may appear. I really hope you enjoy the new idea I'm trying, and don't forget to read and review!


	2. Enter the Inferno

From Death to Damnation

Chapter 2: Enter the Inferno

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><p>"…uuuuh…" groaned a voice in the darkness, groggy and tired.<p>

"…"

"Ohhh… ow." the voice mumbled, still trying to grasp onto consciousness.

"…"

"Where… am I?" came the voice again, clearer this time. The voice of Palkia pierced the silence, though no light came through the darkness.

He slowly stood up, his body fighting against him and wishing to collapse back down. He slowly dragged himself around the area, still unable to grasp full consciousness. Eventually, he walked straight into a wall headfirst, causing him a huge headache.

"Ow! Uhh… man." Trying to grasp the situation, he shook his head quickly to wake himself up. Somewhat successful, he tried to figure out where he was.

Suddenly, a bright light flashed above him. He held his claw in front of his eyes to protect them. Once it died down, Palkia looked around to get a better idea of where he was thrown into.

It was a stadium. Sand coated the floor and got in between his metal feet. The walls were decorated… well, I should say less decorated and more like completely covered with designs of fallen angels. Compared to an average one, they had a larger build, black wings, and a black robe. A sword was in the right hand of one of them leaping in the air and aimed at what looked like a benevolent being.

"OK…" he muttered to himself. "Weird would be an understatement."

The walls held the same design all around the arena. He looked above the stadium walls and saw seating for an audience, which there was one. Various creatures, some Palkia recognized and many he didn't, were there, CHEERING 'Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!' The chants were much more… bloodthirsty than that of a typical audience.

"What is this, some sort of sick Pokémon Battle?"

Palkia looked up in the air, at the roof. The ceiling wasn't there, indicating an outdoor arena. But since when did the outdoors have a blood red sky?

"Hello there." taunted a voice from somewhere in the arena, somehow being heard above the audience's chanting.

Immediately, the chanting stopped. The sudden silence in the crowd made Palkia feel more than a little unnerved.

"It seems you've waken now." came the voice. This time, the voice took on a humorous, yet definably sinister tone.

"Who are you?" Palkia shouted, his voice reverberating through the stadium. "Show yourself!"

He took a glance around again, but he still couldn't find the source of the voice. Palkia wanted answers, and he wanted them NOW.

"…"

"I know you're there. You CAN hear me. I want answers. Where am I?"

"…You'll find out soon enough, Palkia. For now, let's play a game." taunted the voice again. "I'm feeling bored."

"…What kind of game?"

"You have Pokémon Battles in your universe, right? It's hard to keep track of all the creatures I get from different universes…"

"Yeah." Palkia confirmed for him. "And your point?"

"Think of this game like a Pokémon Battle. Except harder. And more brutal. Maybe even spread around a few buckets of blood. You're going to battle one of my best warriors. I've had a lot of people challenge this guy, but nobody ever made it past 12 seconds."

"All right then." Palkia accepted his challenge. He could handle this with his spatial powers. "When I'm done, YOU'RE going to tell just where the HELL I am!"

The voice chuckled. "Fine then. It's just… kind of funny you'd mention Hell."

"What do you mean?"

"I'll tell you later. But for now, let the games begin."

The minute the unseen voice was off of his last word, the chanting from the audience started up again.

"Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!"

A gate on the opposite side of the arena began to open. Palkia braced himself, expecting some sort of monstrous beast to come out and attack him.

From the shadows of the gate came a humanoid creature, covered head to toe in shining gold body armor. Very little of the creature's skin could be seen, apart from a tail sticking out, and part of his head visible through a visor. In the beast's hand was a sword, one with a silver hilt and a blade edge sharp enough to cut through steel.

The unseen voice came back again.

"Armaros!"

"Palkia!"

"Fight!"

As soon as the word was uttered, the creature ran at a blinding speed towards Palkia. Palkia, having been experienced in battle before, swiftly dodged the sword strike. He prepared to launch a counterattack with his spatial powers, starting to conjure up a Spatial Rend. The purple rift began to generate in his claws.

Then it died on him, quickly fading away.

"Wait… huh?"

Armaros, taking advantage of his vulnerability, thrust his sword into Palkia's backside, cutting straight through his supposedly impenetrable armor. The skin opened, and Palkia felt the blood spatter out.

"Wait…" he muttered, try to recuperate. "Why aren't my powers working?"

Armaros tried to strike Palkia again, but Palkia was able to dodge. Leaping a few steps back, Palkia attempted a different attack this time. He curved his claws together, preparing to launch off a powerful Dragon Pulse instead. To his satisfaction, the attack began to power up. The pulse was almost completely charged and ready to fire at Armaros when, you guessed it, it vanished on him.

"This doesn't make sense. What's going on here?"

Armaros ran towards Palkia again, and the Legend didn't have enough time to counter him. This time, the blade sank into Palkia's left shoulder, exposing the broken skin. More blood gushed out, with an artery cut and Palkia holding his drenched wound.

Palkia fell down with his hands on the ground supporting his body, bleeding badly from both of the serious lacerations he received. He tried to stay conscious as sleep attempted to grasp him.

"I… I…Why…?" he whispered. "Help…"

Armaros approached him slowly, with his sword held at shoulder-level, ready to finish the newbie off.

"I… I surrender." Palkia said. Armaros lowered his sword, and came off feeling disappointed.

"Such a shame." Armaros smirked, taunting him. "At least you lasted longer than they usually do."

The same sinister voice came back to Palkia's ears, but this time, he had a face to put it with as a figure approached Armaros.

As the figure came in sight, Palkia felt an aura of power and discipline accompany him. The first thing Palkia thought was of his appearance similar to an angel… with a few key differences, of course. Instead of the typical white wings one might find, his was black. His entire body was darker than the average angel's, and gave him a much more 'rugged' look, rather than pure. It seemed reminiscent of a 'fallen angel'.

The figure looked at Palkia again. "So… you surrender, huh?"

"…"

"Well? Speak up."

"…Y-Yes."

"It seems you've made a smart decision, Palkia." The figure was about to leave when Armaros set his glove on his shoulder.

"Lucifer?" the figure asked him.

"Yes?"

Armaros cast a menacing glance at Palkia, then looked back at the figure named 'Lucifer'.

"If I may… I've never had the chance to give it my all in a battle. I wish to… push him farther. See if he can last longer. He seems capable."

Lucifer looked over at Palkia then back at Armaros.

"Hmm… I don't see why not. At this point, he can't die anyway. Knock yourself out. Just let me know when you're finished with him." The fallen angel then left Palkia and Armaros by themselves.

"Yes, my Lord."

_"Can't die?" _Palkia wondered. _"What does he mean by…"_

At that moment, Palkia had a quick flashback to events that had happened prior to waking up here. Namely, he painfully and vividly recalled his mother… killing him in cold blood. She had said that she would send to 'the worst realm imaginable.' Was this it?

_"So I'm dead…"_

Armaros walked up to Palkia, with the intent of battling further.

"I know you have more than that. Get up!"

Slowly stumbling, Palkia managed to ignore the pain of his injuries and steady himself.

"What now? I've already surrendered. What more do you want?"

Armaros smirked. "To see you disgraced and humiliated. This fight isn't over until the pain is so unbearable, you'll be SCREAMING for my mercy."

"If it's a fight to the end you want…" Palkia began to prep himself in a battle stance, still shaky yet determined as all heck. "Then it's a fight to the end you'll get."

"Now that's what I'm talking about." Armaros tossed aside his sword and set his gaze on Palkia. "No holding back, now."

Palkia nodded. Armaros started a full-run towards him, with Palkia prepared for the blow. Palkia still had his wild card to play, but it was the only chance he had left.

Just as Armaros attacked him head-on, Palkia quickly ducked under, letting him past above. When Palkia had the chance, he grabbed his tail while it was exposed. Armaros hadn't expected Palkia to pull something like that, and tried to retaliate. Palkia, thinking quickly, spun Armaros around multiple times, and threw him against the wall à la Super Mario. His moveset was gone, but he still maintained his strength!

Armaros groaned on the other side of the arena, pushing himself back up slowly. The collision with the arena wall knocked the wind out of him, and walked towards Palkia. Palkia, expecting an attack, prepared to counter. Instead, Armaros set his arm on Palkia's good shoulder and congratulated him.

"You know, you're the first one to really get me like that. Few survived as long as you did. But nobody won against me; you're the first. Nice job."

"Uhh… thanks."

"I have a piece of advice, Palkia; keep it between you and me."

"What?"

"You thought THAT was brutal? Believe me; things only get worse from there. The longer you last… the harder it gets… and the more painful your injuries become. If you lose, Palkia… your 'prize' will be a painful experience. The more you lose… the more painful your experiences also become. Eventually, it may feel like you're dying… but you never will, because you're already dead."

"…Are you serious? You really mean that?"

"That's why they call this place Hell. Makes me wish I had been a better being in life. I could've avoided this…"

At that point, Armaros walked off slowly to where he had come out of. Slowly. Hesitantly. It seemed to Palkia as if Armaros KNEW something horrible was going to happened to him… and he didn't want to face it. Even though he had taunted Palkia only moments before, the Pokémon couldn't help but feel sorry for him. His second challenge even gave Palkia a chance to turn the tables. It left Palkia with many questions:

Where was he going?

What experience DID await Armaros for losing?

And… why was it so horrible?

He didn't have a chance to get his answers, as he was quickly taken to another place by the same being who had watched him fall…

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><p><em>Pokémon © Nintendo  Game Freak_

Yep, the 'dimension' Arceus sent Palkia to turned out to be Hell… literally. Again, I did want to take this story in a unique direction and try something different. Also a note, the chapters will probably be shorter than most of my multi-chapter stories. Nevertheless, I still hope to do interesting things, and also hope you'll read and review.


	3. Three Traitors to the Genocide

From Death to Damnation

Chapter 3: Three Traitors to the Genocide

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><p>"… What do we do?"<p>

Dialga and Giratina sat by themselves in one of the spare rooms around the Hall of Origin. Although to the Legends, it was less like a room and more like a janitor's closet. The two had to convene here since Arceus had increased surveillance and sent some of the Legendaries as guards around the Hall, hunting for opposers to her plans.

"I… don't know, honestly." Giratina told the Time Lord. "Arceus hasn't acted like this before…"

Dialga sighed. "I know. This is… this is just completely unlike her."

"I understand that she hates this whole mechanic of Pokémon capture… but I think we can both agree that genocide is a bit drastic."

Dialga shuffled around the crowded closet, trying to find some space for her large body.

"Personally, I can't help but think that there's something bigger at work here."

"What do you mean, Dialga?"

"What I mean is that she KILLED Palkia. We both saw it. Since when has she ever resorted to something that extreme?"

"She can be strict…" Giratina noted. "But, you're right. She usually wouldn't do something as abhorrent as murder her own son. What are you suggesting?"

"I think something… or someone is either causing or forcing her to do these things. Someone else upset over Pokémon capture. If she was her right mind, I KNOW Mom wouldn't commit genocide OR kill Palkia. She wouldn't. She never would."

"If that IS it, then humans are out. Forcing a god they're trying to capture into destroying the human race would be stupid, to say the least. But if it ISN'T the humans, then you seriously think…"

"I think it's one of us. One of the Legends." Dialga told the Renegade Pokémon point-blank. "Anyone. Rayquaza, Lugia, Ho-Oh, Groudon, Mewtwo, Cresselia… whoever's doing this is also scared to death of getting captured!"

"…And whoever killed Palkia also knew he was trying to stop Arceus from carrying genocide out!"

"Exactly. If we can figure out who's causing Mom to do all this, then we might be able to get her back to normal!"

"Sounds great!" Giratina said. "Just one question: How are we going to do this?"

"…Yeah… I'm still working on that. We'll probably need to get some help."

"But that still leaves the question of… who do we trust? You just said anyone could be behind this, so who do we get to help us? Some of them probably even side with Arceus!"

"Well… you are right." Dialga admitted. She then turned to face Giratina with a more confident look on her face. "But I think I might know a couple of 'Mon who'd never do such a thing even under that fear…"

Dialga and Giratina peeked their heads out of the closet. Seeing that nobody was coming, they quickly slipped out and made their way down the hallway.

"So, who are we looking for?" Giratina whispered to Dialga, not wanting Arceus' allies to hear. "We don't even know who's siding with our mother…"

"I think Groudon is a possibility. He's always gone into rants about humans anyway long before this happened. This just gives him more grounds to side with Mom."

"Hmm. What about Celebi?" Giratina pondered. "Out of all the Legendaries, I think she's probably the most trust-worthy."

"That's exactly who I had in mind. I know her well enough to realize that she'd never do something like this." Dialga told him. "And that's who we're searching for first."

Sneaking quietly, they navigated their way to Celebi's garden, where the forest sprite often stayed. As the walk was silent and awkward, Giratina attempted to strike up a conversation.

"So… who else do you think is going to help Arceus? You know, in killing the human race?"

"If I recall, Kyogre, Lugia, and Darkrai also weren't fans of humans, but I'm not sure if they'd go that far."

"Uhh, Dialga?" Giratina interrupted, noticing someone coming towards her.

"Shaymin's crazy, and she, probably, scratch that, **will** side with Mom."

"Umm, Dialga?"

"I just… what do we do? I mean, I'm not the biggest fan of humans but a mass genocide? Mom's CRAZY! I can't just sit by and watch Mom kill off the human…"

At this moment, she finally realized that Giratina was trying to catch her attention. A look of fear was in his eyes, and Dialga immediately knew what Giratina was trying to warn her about.

"…And Mom's right behind me, isn't she?"

"What's this I'm hearing? Are you two also on the side of the humans?" Arceus asked them menacingly.

Giratina took note of a dark aura that seemed to surround Arceus, thinking that it might be the cause of her anger. Quickly, he distanced himself from the two others.

"Of course not." Dialga lied, unconvincingly. "We'd…uh, never side with such despicable beings."

Arceus eyed them suspiciously, not buying Dialga's story. "You expect me to believe that?" She chuckled. "Do you honestly think that I'm stupid enough to actually believe that? Well, I've got news for you; I don't buy a single word, Dialga."

"Mom, think about this."

"I don't need to." Arceus stood still, preparing to attack.

"You wouldn't kill me." Dialga told her. "There is no way you would murder Palkia and me. Something's wrong with you Mom, and to be honest, it scares me! OK, I admit it; it scares me!"

"Oh, nothing's wrong, honey." she said, eerily calm. As she said this, a white bright circle appeared underneath Dialga's feet, preparing to destroy her.

"Mom!"

"Good riddance, traitor!"

"STOP!"

The moment Dialga yelled that word out, time instantly froze. Her mother, left immobile, could only watch as her daughter and Giratina managed to escape.

_"Urgh, damn it. You can't dodge me forever, Dialga. I'm coming for you."_

* * *

><p>"Oh, we're safe."<p>

Dialga and Giratina had made it to the Gardens of Origin just outside the Hall. Magnificent plant life bloomed from every conceivable corner, with diamond daisies, ruby roses, and sapphire stones being among just a few of them. Calmly, Dialga and Giratina walked on the grass.

"So…" Dialga whispered. "It's not just about eliminating the human race anymore. Whoever's controlling her wants to kill anyone who stands in the way." Sighing, she made room on the grass to lie down and Giratina joined her.

Giratina set himself across from Dialga as she continued to talk. "Who… who's doing this? Why would she even go as far as to kill Palkia?" she mumbled. She fiddled around with her foot in the grass. "Palkia… h-he just wanted to help."

"Palkia…" Giratina muttered, focusing on the blades of grass wavering in the wind. "Whatever happened to him? Arceus killed him… and said she was going to send him to the worst realm imaginable. What kind of place is she talking about?"

"Hey guys, what's got you so down in the dumps?"

Dialga and Giratina looked up to see Lugia sitting next to them. He looked at them, wandering what was going on.

"Lugia?" Giratina asked. "What are you doing here? I thought you were on a date with Ho-Oh until the next week…"

"We had to cancel. We were heading to Unova, but apparently there's a war going on there. So, I came back here to crash. But then, I saw you guys getting all mopey."

"It's… one heck of a story." Dialga told him. "Something… big… happened while you were gone."

"Big? Like a 'good' big? Or a 'wow' big? Or it is an unbelievable kind of big?"

"…The last one." Giratina confirmed for him. "It's about Mom."

"Mom? Is she OK? She sick or something?"

"That's what we think." Dialga said. "But there's much more to it. Mom's gone wacko. She's dead intent on exterminating the entire human race."

Lugia sat there, eyes wide and jaw open "No way, Mom? Killing off the human race? I don't believe this."

"Unfortunately, it's true." Giratina reconfirmed. "Just yesterday, she… she killed Palkia."

"Wait…" Lugia stood, trying to take in all of this. "She killed him? As in, 'killed him' killed him? As in, 'cessation of life' killed him? That kind of killed him?"

"Yeah. That kind of killed him. She sent him to some sort of realm, but I don't know where."

"But… that doesn't make any sense. She's strict, but… she'd never do something like that. Why did she…?"

"Palkia opposed her plans of genocide." Dialga said. "To be honest, Giratina and I also do and… we just barely escaped from her. She was set on murdering us."

"Wow." Lugia said. "That's… hard to believe Mom would do such a thing. But then, why is she doing this?"

"We think something is corrupting her. Something's controlling her, and making her do this." said Giratina.

"But what purpose would they have?" Lugia shouted, getting frustrated at the whole issue. "WHY?"

"Because humans developed Pokéballs." Dialga informed the Legendary avian. "That's why. That's why she wants to kill the human race. So no Pokémon can get captured and be forced to serve for humans."

"Pokéballs? You are talking about those things that capture Pokémon? To be honest, I'm not a fan of them either; I've heard of them. But about Palkia… didn't you say that Arceus sent him to another realm?"

"Yes, actually." Giratina told him. "When she killed him, she said she was going to send him to 'the worst realm in the galaxies that you could never imagine in your wildest dreams.' I don't where she could have possibly have sent him… Do you know something about it?"

Lugia shook his head. "No, but we might find some more information about this kind of thing in the Library of Origin. From what I remember, Arceus said that all kinds of books from across the universes are in there. My guess is that…"

"One of them might have information that we need?" Dialga hoped.

"Exactly. Let's get going. We need to find as many Legendaries as possible who'll help us." said Lugia, preparing to head inside the Hall.

"Wait." Dialga stopped him.

"Yeah?"

"Why are you helping us? You HATE humans. I know you hate humans with an absolute passion. Why would you help us?"

"Guys, I think we can all agree that Arceus is going too far. As much as I hate humans, I kinda want them to stick around. They're fun to torment, anyway."

"Lugia?" Dialga said.

"Yes?"

"...Thank you."

* * *

><p><em>Pokemon (c) Nintendo  Game Freak_

Note: For those of you reading and wondering why the heck the title of the story is different, well that's because I changed it. Don't worry; no content in the story itself was changed. I just think the name change from 'Only One Way Down' to 'From Death to Damnation' is MUCH better. Anyway, the previous chapters haven't been altered (aside from the title change), and you can look forward to more chapters on their way!

Another note, when I shifted focus back to Palkia in Hell, I planned to expand further on the arena battles and introduce new elements. How? What will I do? You'll find out all in good time...


	4. Deal with the Devil

From Death to Damnation

Chapter 4: Deal with the Devil

* * *

><p>"So… what is it? What do you want from me?"<p>

Palkia had been taken to a large opulent room, with a blood-red carpet covering the entire floor. Statues stood up on medium height pillars in the room. Some of the statues had darkened angels that looked similar to Lucifer, positioned as if they were falling from somewhere. Others sported violent beasts, such as lions, eagles, wolves, and serpents. Serpents especially, as serpents also decorated the arches of the doorways into the room, and bordered the ceiling.

Palkia himself was sitting on a couch the same color as the carpet. Across from him was the fallen angel Himself.

"Oh, I don't want much of anything, Palkia. Being the Master of Hell is a good job in itself. It's want YOU what."

"What I want?"

"Hey slut." the demon said, turning to a black-haired girl waiting next to him. "Get us some more coffee, would you?"

Lucifer turned to Palkia. "You like coffee?"

"…Ehh… no thank you."

"Suit yourself." The girl left to get it, leaving the two alone.

"As dumb as she is, that girl can make one GOOD cup of coffee…" the demon grinned.

"Let's get back to the point." Palkia said, wanting to shift from the subject. "What I want?"

"Of course. You would want more than ANYTHING in the entire UNIVERSE to get back up to your planet, right?"

Palkia sighed. "To be honest, yes. I was just trying to stop her from destroying the entire human race."

"And that's very commendable of you, Palkia. Very commendable. But there's not much you can do about it now, now can you?"

"…No." Palkia muttered.

At that time, the girl returned with the demon's coffee and handed it off to him.

"Thank you." Lucifer said. "You are dismissed." The girl then left the two alone again.

"…Who is that girl?" Palkia asked.

"No one important. Well, no one important NOW." he chuckled. "She is… a former resistor. Former being the key word there."

"…I'm almost afraid to ask, but… why was she so quiet?"

"…Have you ever heard the phrase, 'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth'?"  
>"Yes."<p>

"She spoke out against me. Yakking on about how 'evil' I was and how 'corrupt' my little Games were. So, I personally cut out her tongue. To be frank, it was the only way she'd ever shut up."

Palkia was about to refute, but decided against it and remained quiet.

"So… you want to return home. Back to the Hall of Origin, right?" Lucifer chuckled again. "I can arrange that."

Palkia's eyes perked up. "Really? You-You'll send me back home?"

"…Under one of two conditions."

Palkia's eyes narrowed, determined to get home. "Let's hear them."

"Condition number 1. You participate in The Infernal Tournament. They're my games and my rules. Fight to the death."

"Fights to the death? You mean like that kind of one you just put me through?"

The devil chuckled again. "That? Oh that was just practice. But expect more to come. And trust me, it gets worse. Every century or so, I like to have some fun. Being the Master of Hell is a good job, but it gets boring after a little while. So, I hold a game called The Infernal Tournament. See, Hell has multiple circles. You might have read that somewhere; I don't know how they could've possibly found that out. …Anyway, here the basic gist of it. 7 circles, 14 contenders, 1 winner. In every circle, you face off against a foe. Each circle presents its' own unique challenges."

"Like the Olympics?"

"Ha! That's a laugh. The Olympics, puh… No, Palkia. This ISN'T the Olympics. These games are worse. Death, humiliation, torture, and your worst nightmares come to life. But it's your last chance to get out if you choose to participate. It's a blood bath. All but one die. Not that I'm complaining, it's less for me to clean up..."

"…And option number 2…" Palkia muttered, hoping for a better choice.

"You sell your soul to me."

"…That's it?"

"That's it." Lucifer said, grinning. "Do that and you're also home-free. Not bad, am I right?"

"…Sell my soul? What would that entail?"

"Oh, it's really nothing much. Not that big an issue."

"But this is my SOUL we're talking about." Palkia stated. "I think I have a right to know what you're going to do with it."

"I won't do much at all, really. Just keep it in a jar inside a little cabinet somewhere. It'll be safe. You just won't have it."

Palkia thought for a moment. "If I give you my soul… what happens when I go back up to the Hall of Origin?"

"…You willing to find out?" the devil smirked.

"Well… No. I'm not risking it. It's MY soul. It's a part of ME. I'd rather take my chances in The Infernal Tournament."

"…All right, then. But don't say I didn't warn you… Guards!"

Two muscular armored beings approached from curtains behind Lucifer. Beings because, underneath the dark black and blood red armor, Palkia couldn't even tell what species they were.

"Yes, my liege?" one of them said.

"Take him to his quarters. And lock him in there until tomorrow morning. He'll meet the rest of the contenders then."

"Yes, master." the other armored creature said.

The two each took one of Palkia's arms. Palkia tried to get his arms out from their grasps, but no success. It came to Palkia that he was either severely weakened, or these guys were stronger than they looked.

"I can walk just fine, thank you very much!" Palkia protested.

"Just want to make sure you don't try to escape. Not that you'd ever find a way out."

"…Well, then."

"Guards! You're dismissed."

* * *

><p>The two took the Pokémon out of the extravagant room, outside through a back door, and onto a dusty path. As the duo took Palkia up the path, he decided to take notice of his surroundings.<p>

Ground that was jagged and split in many places. Some cracks were big enough for even Palkia to fall into. But where would you go?

Trees that were on fire and never stopped burning. How on Earth, Palkia wondered, could a tree do that?

Inhuman… things that roamed aimlessly around. They seemed to be dying, with worms burrowing into them, until Palkia remembered that they're already dead. So, what will become of them?

And the sky was still as red as blood.

* * *

><p>The Legendary Pokémon found himself forcefully pushed into an extremely small residence. The place was built with sturdy near-indestructible steel, and the metal lined the walls, the ceiling, the floor, and in every conceivable corner. Only two beds were in there, and one of them was preoccupied with the beast in it asleep. The way the building was constructed, it was more of a small, confining prison than a dwelling. Palkia's head was only a foot away from touching the ceiling. Before Palkia could protest, the two shoved him in and quickly shut and locked the door behind him. He tried to get it to open, and even tried physically punching it. Despite his strength, it wouldn't budge. Trying a Dragon Pulse again, it still wouldn't activate. He sighed, and sat down on the unoccupied bed, having resigned himself.<p>

"Great." Palkia sighed to himself. "I die, I get sent to this living nightmare, and I've lost my powers. I'd ask 'what else could go wrong', but then something will."

"…" the beast on the other remained quiet as he slumbered.

Palkia got up from his bed and looked over the beast. The beast wielded the exact same armor as the one who battled Palkia earlier. The sword, on the side of the bed, was the same as well.

"Armaros?" Palkia muttered.

Looking more carefully, Palkia noticed multiple lacerations on Armaros' body. Aside from the ones Palkia had given him, others were indented on his armor. Bent and misshapen, Palkia wondered what could have happened to cause this.

"Uhh…"

Palkia stepped back, ready to fight if needed despite his weakened state.

Armaros sighed and sat up from the bed. "Uhh… man, I feel like a wreck after that… session. Hi Palkia. I heard them toss you in."

"Yeah… hi. What-What happened to your armor? I didn't do that… did I?"

Armaros muttered softly. "No. That wasn't you. That was… Lucifer. For losing and breaking my perfect winning streak."

"Lucifer. You mean the arrogant guy with the dark black wings? Your 'Lord'?"

Armaros shook his head. "Nah. I just call him that to get on the crowd's good side, since the crowd is mostly Lucifer's loyal demons down here. If you make the crowd unhappy… things get worse."

"Why would he do that, though? Do… whatever it was he did to you? You look pretty beaten up."

"…What else do you expect from the guy who refers to himself as 'the angel of darkness'? He does it for kicks."

"…I see what you mean."

"It's hard living here." Armaros confessed. "Day after day after day of endless bloody battling, and the biggest consequences for a single loss. I've never lost a single match until you came along."

"Really. You must be pretty good."

Armaros chuckled weakly. "Yeah. Never really noticed."

"…"

It was silent for 10 more awkward minutes until Palkia wanted an answer to a question of his.

"How did you get down here? Isn't this place for, you know, really bad people?"

"Mm-hmm. Stalin, Hitler, Hussein… they were down here years before you and me. Their bodies have probably decomposed by now. I, on the other hand, am down here for… somewhat similar reasons.

"You want to talk about it?"

"Actually yes. I have wanted to talk about it for a long time, but no one's ever asked me that. You see, I… was an assassin."

"An assassin?"

"Indeed. Killed a lot of people, and animals like me, for a living. I didn't do it to get by; it's not like I was uneducated. But I had a real talent for fighting and murder which I wanted to exploit. It brings me a lot of money."

"Yeah. Most Pokémon in our world are trained for battling, but they're not supposed to murder others. But I suppose one could train them to kill. But then, how did you die?"

"An assassin's mission gone horribly wrong. The last guy I was ordered to assassinate was an extremely powerful businessman that held a lot of influence over my world. My boss wanted him dead, so he could dominate. But… they saw me coming. His security knew I was out to kill him. So… they killed me first. Bullet to the back of the head. At least it was instantaneous. And voila, like that, I'm down here."

"…Is that really enough to be sent down here?"

"I honestly don't know what the 'requirements' are to get sentenced here. But whatever they were, I certainly didn't help my case by taking all of those lives. Some of those souls are probably down here somewhere…"

"…"

"Your turn."

Palkia sighed. He didn't want to recall the brutal memory. But Armaros did explain his back-story to the Pokémon. It was only fair if he did the same.

"My own mother murdered me."

"Your mother? Damn, that's harsh…"

"You see, back in my world, humans invented Pokéballs which… made her more than a little bit mad. But that's a MASSIVE understatement. She had been planning a mass genocide of the entire human race since, and she was ready to execute it in the modern day. I tried to stop her. It… didn't go so well. She… she…"

* * *

><p><em>"A-Are you going to… kill me? You… wouldn't do that to your own son, right?"<em>

_ SNAP_

"I felt my right femur snap. Just like a twig. She snapped it with no effort."

_ SNAP_

"A bone somewhere in my left arm snapped. I couldn't stand it. Not the just the pain, but the fact that my own mother… who raised me from right and wrong… was murdering me."

_ "Mom… stop it. Please." he begged to no avail. He began to tear at the fact that his own mother, who had raised and taught him right and wrong, was slowing murdering him._

_ SNAP_

"Then my wrist fractured. The physical pain wasn't so bad compared to the emotional and mental state she left me in."

_ "Mommy…" he pleaded further, breaking down in sole desperation. "It hurts…"_

_ Arceus grinned. "Do you want to know what I have planned for you after you die?"_

_ Palkia couldn't respond, with blood beginning to clog up his throat. Dialga, outside the shield and watching her mother brutally murder her brother, could only look on with a hopeless desire to help him. She silently cried._

_ "Well, I'll tell you anyway. I'm going to send you to the worst realm in the galaxies that you could never imagine in your most terrifying dreams." she stated calmly._

_ SNAP_

"What she did before she killed me off was rip off my wings. That… was pain like you wouldn't believe. She… crafted those for me personally."

_ "You WILL learn not to mess with my authority. After all, there's only one way down where you're going. And to seal the deal…" she smiled sadistically again._

_ "No… mama… plea-"_

_ SNAP_

* * *

><p>"She snapped my neck as some blood was trying to regurgitate from my mouth. That's how she did it. And she intentionally sentenced me here. That's the hardest thing to believe."<p>

"Wow…" Armaros muttered. "Getting murdered is one thing… but getting your bones and nerves snapped one by one by your own mother is certainly another."

"I still don't understand WHY she did it. That's what I want to know. My mother is… she's not like that. Well, not normally. She's strict, but… never evil. Not like that."

"I don't know what I can say, Palkia. There's not really anything I can do to change what happened. But… you're a better being than I ever was."

"Hey." Palkia turned towards the armored beast. "Thanks."

"No problem. We all need someone to turn to sometimes. We really need to get some rest now. Tomorrow's going to be one hell of a day."

"Yeah."

Palkia tried to, uncomfortably, slip himself into the bed. It was small, and not made for someone of his stature. But, he tried to make do with what he had, and rest up for the events that awaited him the very next day…

* * *

><p><em>Pokémon © Nintendo  Game Freak_

A/N: Yes, the fic takes some elements from the Hunger Games / Dante's Inferno (though, I must confess, I have not read the latter). But there will be plenty to help differentiate them, because I don't want to rip them off. Also, yes, I'm taking some artistic licensing with Hell. And I know it doesn't 100% line up with the Bible. To the Christians reading this, PLEASE DON'T KILL ME. However, I will be absolutely sure to capture the general horror that Hell has to offer.

As always, Read and Review!


	5. Begin the Rescue

From Death to Damnation

Chapter 5: Begin the Rescue

* * *

><p>"Now, we need to be careful." Dialga told her companions Lugia and Giratina as they walked through the Hall of Origin. The trio was in a wide hallway looking for the library, and they were on the side of it to avoid standing out.<p>

"Why? I thought she was only pissed off at Palkia." Lugia said. "Isn't he the only one she wanted to kill? …Unless, of course you…"

Dialga chuckled nervously. "In hindsight, getting Mom angry at us was probably not a good idea. But, I mean," she stuttered a bit. "It was either that or she would have… killed me. My own mother… was going to send me to the same place she sent Palkia… wherever that is."

"So, you think that Arceus is somewhere in here… h-hunting for us?" Giratina muttered, frightened with his voice shaky. Giratina wasn't scared of much, as he was the Pokémon embodiment of Death. He knows that death for all beings is inevitable… even Legendary Pokémon. But, being the embodiment of Death gave you a unique perspective on life. You realize how much it is truly worth. If Arceus found them, in her current state, she could terminate that life immediately.

And that's why Giratina is truly scared.

"…The library is over to the west." Dialga said. "We'll turn left at that 4-way split up ahead."

As they approached the turn, Dialga told the rest, "The Library of Origin does have a lot of information. We may find something. But I can't help but worry that-"

Suddenly, Dialga felt herself getting yanked back by Lugia. She fell onto the floor a distance behind her, away from the 4-way.

"What was that-?" she started to yell.

"Quiet!" Lugia whispered harshly as he covered Dialga's mouth with his wing-hands. "Just peek your head out a little bit, and you'll see why I did that."

Grumbling to herself, Dialga did as Lugia asked and poked her head out slightly. Looking at the direction of the library, she discovered that the library was being guarded by one of the most menacing Legendary Pokémon… Landorus.

"Oh great, just great!" Dialga grumbled as she pulled her head back. "Landorus is guarding the way into the library! Mom must have gotten him on her side. You all know how merciless he's known to be. If he sees us, we're dead! Literally!"

"Any ideas?" Giratina posed to the group.

"Well, if Landorus is on Mom's side, then he'll know to exterminate me and Giratina…" Dialga informed. "…But she didn't know about Lugia joining our side, so Landorus won't either!"

"Great! How does this help us?" Lugia said.

"I know that Landorus is supposed to be quite the womanizer, so we could charm him over… of course, he'll know to kill Dialga on Arceus's orders the moment he sees her, so that's out." Giratina sighed.

"What we need is to get another girl to do it." Lugia declared.

The minute he said that, Dialga's and Giratina's faces lit up as they looked at him.

"Uh guys, why are you looking at me like that? That look in your eyes is creeping me out. …Oh. Oh no. No, no, no. Come on, guys! Anyone but me!" he shouted. He tried to run away, getting as far as the garden, but his clumsy large body got in the way and he tripped. Dialga and Giratina continued to approach him with a blonde wig, lipstick, impossible 6 inch high heels and a showgirl's outfit.

"I'll hold him down while you put on the stuff!" Giratina told Dialga.

"Done and done!" she said, starting to grab the items.

"Please!" he begged. "No! NOOOOOO!"

* * *

><p>Half an hour later…<p>

"I hate you guys. I really hate you."

Lugia found himself in a position he never wanted to in again as long as he lived. Dressed in drag, he sighed as he looked at his wing-hands, which now had nail polish. They were back at the 4-way, waiting to execute their plan.

"You're lucky I care so much." Lugia told the Time Master and embodiment of Death.

"Stop complaining!" Dialga told him. "You look great! Sure to charm Landorus over!"

"Heck, I'D do you!" Giratina said. This earned him awkward looks from both Dialga and dressed up in drag Lugia.

"What?" he muttered.

"Never mind." Dialga groaned. She turned Lugia's head to face her. "Anyway, Lugia?"

Lugia sighed. "Yes?"

"I know you don't want to do this. I know it's embarrassing."

"You certainly have THAT right."

"But, Lugia? This really is important. Palkia's life counts on this. You have to do this so me and Giratina can sneak into the library and find information on how to bring Palkia back. Our best bet is that we could find one of the Sinnoh region's old spellbooks to bring him back, or find more information about this realm Arceus sent him to. Preferably both. Please, Lugia? We're really counting on you to pull us through."

Lugia smiled softly. "We need him back. He has a will and dedication that we need to solve this mystery. And, besides that… Palkia has been one of my best friends since forever. I'll do whatever it takes to bring him back… even if I must humiliate myself."

"Good." Dialga grinned. "Now get out there and show Landorus what a woman's made out of!"

Lugia gulped nervously. Gathering his confidence, he walked out of the 4-way and into Landorus's view.

Landorus looked at the (what he thought was a) female. Curious, he observed her actions as she walked towards him. Still standing in front of the door, Landorus decided to turn the charm on.

"What's cooking, good-looking?" he said, leaning his arm against the door. "I don't have a library card, but you mind if I check you out?"

Lugia giggled. "Oh, stop it. You flatterer."

Dialga, still behind the 4-way, gagged. "That was the worst pick-up line I've ever heard."

"Oh, it gets worse." Giratina told the Time Commander.

Lugia giggled. "Such a charmer. I like you. How about you, me and the Olivine Café in Johto? Say, right now?"

Landorus sweated. "Well, I would love to, except…"

"Except what?" Lugia asked innocently. "Oh, that silly little library? Don't worry about that; no one will sneak in or anything while you're gone. And let me tell you something."

Lugia grabbed Landorus's chest and pulled him closer.

"I'm listening, baby." Landorus said.

"Everyone knows that they can't go into the library. Such a big, strong handsome 'Mon must have made sure that they know who they try to defy. There's no need to worry."

Landorus grinned. "Yeah, you're right."

Lugia was able to lure Landorus away from the door and the opposite way from which Dialga and Giratina came. Before he reached out of earshot, Dialga and Giratina heard one last line from him.

"You know, you remind me a lot of my grandmother." Landorus confessed honestly.

"Really?"

"Yeah, except I haven't slept with you yet."

Dialga was ready to completely toss her cookies right then and there. She probably would have if Giratina hadn't stopped her.

"You can do that on your own time, Dialga. Right now, we have to get to that library!"

"…Right. Of course."

The duo ran towards the unguarded library door and burst in. Giratina quickly shut the door behind him. The library was enormous, housing many books of every subject and the library itself took up a fourth of the entire Hall of Origin.

"All right, we're in." affirmed Dialga. "Giratina, you start by looking at the spellbook section. I'll check that old book about possible afterlives in the religious documents section."

Giratina ran over to the spellbook section, hoping to potentially find one of the old resurrection spells to bring Palkia back to life as Dialga dashed towards the religious documents.

"Let's see here…" Dialga muttered as she scanned over the books, starting with the A's. "The Study of Achilles' heel, Adam and Eve, Af-" she stopped.

"What is Afros for Dummies doing in the religious documents section?" she questioned. "…Never mind, I'll put that in the American 1960s section later. Afterlife, afterlife, after… uh-oh. Big uh-oh."

"What is it, Dialga?" asked Giratina, hunting for a spellbook.

"The Afterlife book is gone. You know the one that posed various hypothetical situations about the afterlife? It's gone."

Giratina's eyes widened. "What? Let me take a look!" he said, rushing over to Dialga. "Achilles' hell, Adam and Eve… what is Afros…?"

"Don't ask. My point is that the book is gone!"

"All right." groaned Giratina. "What could have happened to it?"

"…Someone took it. That's what happened. Someone knows that somebody would try to find out more about this dimension that Mom sent Palkia to. Either Arceus got rid of it herself, or... the 'Mon that's controlling her did. Did you have any luck with a spellbook?"

"…Sort of."

"What do you mean by 'sort of', Giratina?"

"I found an old Sinnoh spellbook buried within all of the others." Giratina said. "It's the only one I could find listed with a resurrection spell, but…"

"But what?"

"…Half of the spell is ripped out of the page. Without the other half, we can't do it. It has to be more sabotage. Someone clearly doesn't want us to free Arceus from their control."

"…Well, then. What do we do?" Dialga questioned.

"…If we can't bring Palkia back with a spell, then we have to bring back the only Pokémon strong enough to do so… Arceus. But the problem is that I don't know where to start."

"…Time travel." Dialga realized. "How could I be so stupid?"

"What?"

"My time travel powers don't allow me to mess with what happened in the past. So, we can't save Palkia."

"So then, what's the…"

"Let me finish. We may not be able to change the past, but if we travel back far enough to just a few minutes before Palkia was murdered, right before his life was taken, and freeze time right there… we might be able to find out who planted those seeds of corruption into Arceus and who's controlling her now."

"…Do you really think this will work?" Giratina asked her, unsure.

"…We have only our lives to lose, but everything to gain. Lugia can keep Landorus busy long enough so that he won't know we were in here. Come on, Giratina. I want my mother back. I want the mother back who would always comfort me whenever you, I and Palkia got into a fight. I want the mother back who used to watch out for humans. Part of me can't help but wonder if this is truly her, or someone else. Whether they do it for malice or just fear, please Giratina… help me. For your best friend… and for my brother."

"OK. Let's go."

Dialga closed her eyes, preparing to transport the two of us to the past. Visualizing the Hall of Origin of just a few hours ago, with Palkia, Dialga, and Giratina all with Arceus, she was ready. She felt herself and Giratina fade away from the present time to just a few moments before Palkia's cruel, bloody demise.

* * *

><p><em>Pokémon © Nintendo  Game Freak_

Sorry for taking so long for an update! I was a bit stuck on this story to be honest, but I found a direction to pursuit. This story is among my lesser-focused, but it will be finished! Just might take a while...

A/N: Why the random humor introduction? I find that one of my best writing styles is drama with sparsely sprinkled humor. I can never make a super dramatic story without throwing in a little bit of humor.

A/N 2: This is somewhat unprofessional, but for those of you who haven't re-read the first chapter, there is a critical retcon I had to make. The story now takes place in the present day, with Arceus (supposedly) starting her plan when Pokéballs were first created. I thought I should say it for those who don't know.

A/N 3: This might disappoint some of the readers (don't worry, no cancellation), but this story is planned to be pretty short. As in, don't expect the length of Breaking the Chains, Slaves and Soldiers, or Pokémon World Tour. There probably won't be more than… 10 chapters, I'd say. It's not set in stone, but it's pretty likely. As I mentioned in the first chapter, this is sort of experimental, and it won't be very long. But for what it's worth, I hope you guys will enjoy the rest of this story!


	6. Sin Number 1

From Death to Damnation

Chapter 6: Sin #1

* * *

><p>Palkia woke up at what felt like 3:00 in the morning. Of course, he couldn't know for sure. There were no clocks or way of telling time down here. The sky was still as red as blood, and was no different from when he first fell asleep. Palkia found his mind clouded with many thoughts.<p>

"Why did this have to happen to me?"

"Why did Mom do this?"

"What does this 'tournament' have in store for me?"

"…What's going to happen to me?"

The Legendary decided to take a walk outside to try to clear his mind. Looking at the door, he had forgotten that he was sealed in here with no way out.

"So much for that…"

He glanced at Armaros. Sometime after Palkia went to sleep, he had taken off his armor to cool off. Palkia finally had a picture of what Armaros looked like underneath the armor. He was saurian, with green scales covering his body. Looking at Armaros again, Palkia realized the scars were deeper than they initially appeared. Some of the scales were broken, and pierced through layers of flesh. With the number and depth of the lacerations, as well as what seemed to be massive blood loss, he shouldn't even be alive.

Palkia quickly realized the flaw in his logic. Both of them were already dead.

Palkia noticed that Armaros was wincing in his sleep. Even though he was sleeping, he still might feel the pain of the lacerations. That added another question to Palkia's repertoire: "What did they do to him?"

Palkia looked over Armaros again. He wished there was something he could do to help alleviate his pain. But his powers had been taken from him. He couldn't perform any attack. From Spatial Rend, to Dragon Pulse, to even Surf, they were all inaccessible.

_"Wait a second… every ATTACK is inaccessible. I wonder…"_

Palkia held his hands in front of him and placed them down on Armaros.

"Please, please work." he muttered softly to himself.

To his pleasure, Palkia's claws glowed an angelic white. As Palkia continued to focus, the scars on Armaros began to heal. The Legend couldn't help but feel warmth inside him as Armaros' scars began to fade and then finally disappear. Armaros stopped flinching and wincing in his sleep.

Palkia also realized that he had another advantage. Status effects are still fair game. With some strategy, he realized that he could win this. Satisfied, he went back to his bed and tried to get some more sleep. In just a few hours, he would face off against an opponent in a Circle. What opponent he would face, and what 'conditions' the Circle would set for him, he didn't know. He would just have to wait and see.

* * *

><p>Palkia was woken up sometime later by the sound of someone barging through the steel doors. Armaros had woken up as well. Both of them saw the same guards that had brought Palkia into his 'humble abode' the day before. And they both knew what these guards were here for.<p>

"First round begin today?" Armaros muttered, in a condescending tone.

With no words, the two guards harshly grabbed Palkia and Armaros and walked them out of the 'house'.

* * *

><p>Palkia found himself walking underneath a blood red sky again. The burning trees were still there and the inhuman things were still scattered around the entire place. He noticed that the guards were taking both of them to the exact same place where Palkia had his first fight. Previously, he had not seen the arena from the outside. It was smaller from the outside than one would expect, but he knew the large size of the arena inside. The arena had no dome, explaining why the sky was blood red inside and out of it. Fallen angels seemed to be the theme here, as a statue of a dark angel was in front of the entrance of the arena, with a circular walkway around it. The statue held a sword, standing above the slain figure of a lion.<p>

Palkia took time to reflect on this, despite being rushed into the arena. _"What is it with all of these dark angels? Slaying a benevolent being… and a lion… do they want revenge? Did something happen to these guys to get stuck down here? And who are they so angry at?"_

As they arrived at the arena, Palkia noticed Armaros. He had a stride in his step, or at least, seemed to feel much better. Palkia knew why that was. However, if his opponent turned out to be Armaros again, he had just shot himself in the arm last night.

He put his thoughts aside as he was shoved into one side of the arena. Armaros, instead of being his opponent, was escorted up into the audience. Usually, Armaros would chant 'Fight!' along with the crowd. However, seeing that his new friend was down there, he simply remained silent.

From the other side of the arena, another figure made his way in. Or rather, another BEAST. Quite a magnificent one at that. He seemed to be some combination of a dragon and a turtle. He wore a shell, which was green and topped with spikes. On his head and down his neck, his hair flamed red. His wrists and neck had spiked collars, finally proving to be an intimidating appearance.

"On the left side… Palkia!" Lucifer's voice echoed throughout the arena.

"On the right side… King Bowser!" The beast now known as Bowser roared ferociously.

"You will first fight, and then you will go against one of my seven challenges, with each challenge representing one of the seven deadly sins. And you begin on my order."

Palkia and the beast Bowser stared into the other's eyes. Both saw the red in there. Bowser saw a shining ruby red in Palkia's eyes, while Palkia saw a flaming, fierce and passionate red inside of Bowser's.

"Ready…"

Palkia prepped himself against the stadium's wall, to push himself forward.

"Set…"

Bowser crouched down, positioned to jump into the air.

"FIGHT!"

Palkia dashed forward to tackle Bowser head-on, but he had already jumped into the air. Before Palkia could react, Bowser slammed into him from above. Palkia emerged dizzy from the hit. Fortunately, Palkia snapped out of his daze in time to avoid another hit from Bowser. Palkia decided to go back onto the offense and used the arena wall to launch himself at full speed towards the Koopa King. He clawed him, forcing Bowser back to the other end of the arena.

Lucifer had decided that things need to be heated up.

"Now, I think would be a good time to introduce sin number 1!"

Bowser and Palkia both prepped themselves, ready to take on whatever Lucifer had in store for them.

Out from the ground… a beauty emerged. A devilish, naked demon with a dead sexy figure came out, with flames from the ground covering her body, giving her an alluring appeal. She immediately caught both of the competitors' attention.

As Bowser and Palkia attempted to battle, the figure danced around the arena, trying to distract them. She sang, calling to the two with a siren song. During her song, both Bowser and Palkia found their bodies extremely aroused. Their minds soared and raced, unable to concentrate on anything but on who they thought was the 'sexiest bitch alive'.

_"What's happening here?" _thought Palkia in a panic. _"Why is her song arousing me? Why do I suddenly want to make love to her?"_

Bowser found himself approaching the demon. He moved closer and closer, hypnotized and aroused by her. Palkia was the same; however, he tried to fight it. To both of them, they couldn't help but be allured by her beauty. Palkia held his claws on the walls of the arena, trying to keeping himself from going over to her. Bowser had quickly realized the trap from Palkia's reaction and attempted to control his sexual thoughts as well.

_"No, Palkia. Control yourself. It's a trap. Don't do it. Don't make love to that filthy demon… that bitch… that sexy bitch… that… beautiful, sexy, irresistible…"_

It was then that the siren song became even louder, filling the entire stadium. Even the licentious audience found themselves aroused, attempting to leap at the demon. The only thing hold them back was an invisible barrier.

Palkia and Bowser immediately let go of the arena's walls and ran towards her. Both ran at the same speed and would have both reached her simultaneously if something hadn't stopped the Water-Dragon Pokémon.

A blur.

A blue blur.

A blue blur of something large entered his vision. Whether it was reality or his mind manipulating him, he didn't know. The blue blur in his vision distracted him from the siren's song. In fact, the more he focused on the blue blur, the more detailed it became, and the less of the siren's song he heard. It came into view, clearer and clearer, and just before he could make out who it was…

it was gone.

He looked around the arena. The audience was still there, trying to bust through the invisible wall surrounding them. Notably, Bowser and the demon were making 'love' to one another on the floor of the arena. The demon grinned wickedly and while Bowser was drowned in his lustful actions, she caressed the legs of the massive Koopa… which slowly turned into stone. Bowser had just snapped out of his thoughts to realize what was happening to him, but it was too late to change anything.

It started at the legs. Bowser was truly scared, and looked around desperately for help that no one could give him. He tried to move, but found himself permanently stuck.

"No!" he pleaded. "Please! D-Don't do this to me!"

Lucifer chuckled evilly. "You desired sexual gratification. Excitement. Isn't that what you wanted? And now, I'll be sure to give it to you… eternally."

"NO!"

Even Palkia was scared for him. And he had almost fallen for it…

The stone stopped at his legs. His arms were then strapped to his sides, and also turned to stone.

"Please! I beg you! I'll do anything you want!"

Lucifer said nothing. Two demons from the inside area of the arena came out from the doors holding a strange black suit.

"W-What is that? No! Don't put it on me! Plea-"

They shut it onto Bowser, securing it on with an irremovable lock. His jaws were kept shut by the suit as well.

"The 'Pain' Suit. It's specially designed to inflict the maximum amount of pain possible on a living being without knocking them unconscious. Turn it up to 'Maximum Pain: Infinite Time'."

One of the demons brought out a remote from his pocket. He turned a dial and moved a few switches before pressing a red button.

*beep*

Bowser's screams were heard through his suit despite his jaws being clamped shut. Muffles were all that could be heard, but they were scared, horrified, pleading muffles in excruciating torture.

Lucifer only smiled.

"Take him down to the cellar, fellas."

The crowd gasped. Even the demons who brought the suit in gasped. The stakes were much more serious here than they ever have been before. Lucifer's 'cellar' was a horrific place that most only spoke of in whispers. And if someone was sent there… they never returned. Ever.

"Y-Yes, my Lord." The two demons grabbed the feet of the solidified, tortured Bowser, and moved him out of the arena.

Palkia could only stare in horror at the carted off Bowser as he wondered what darkness that Lucifer… no… now the inhumane beast Satan had left in store…

* * *

><p><em>Pokémon © Nintendo  Game Freak_

_ Bowser © Nintendo_

And… done! Glad I could get a chapter update! This chapter, as you may have noticed, was extremely horrifying and inhumane. That was my complete and total intention. I want you to see what Hell is really/could be like in this story. As always, Read and Review.


	7. Taking Off the Time Bomb

From Death to Damnation

Chapter 7: Taking Off the Time Bomb

* * *

><p>Dialga and Giratina popped up in the past of just a few days ago. The setting looked the same from where they left, so they couldn't tell at first.<p>

"You're sure that time warping thing worked, right?" Giratina asked Dialga. "Because things don't really look any different."

"Of course it worked." Dialga assured him. "I'm not called the Temporal Pokémon for nothing."

"All right…" Giratina muttered as they walked out of the library. Notably, no Pokémon were after them. Not even Landorus, who was out for their blood earlier. Now, he was in the garden enjoying nature. He saw them through the window and while the two Dragons were nervous at first, they soon realized that Landorus was no longer a threat.

"So, now what do we do?"

"Well, we can't FORCE Palkia to do what we want… and we can't tell him that we're the future versions of Dialga and Giratina… but there's nothing in the rules that says we can't PERSUADE him into leaving."

"Isn't that still technically against the rules, though?" Giratina pointed out.

"Oh, who cares?" said Dialga as she ran off towards Palkia's room… which wasn't exactly a fast speed. Giratina flew past her in Origin Forme, heading to Palkia's room with much faster speed than Dialga.

"Oh curse these legs." she muttered as she kept going, determined to persuade Palkia into not heading to confront his mother.

"Let's see, what should I say…?" Palkia muttered to himself, pacing around his room. "You're insane? True, but kind of overdone. Could you please consider NOT destroying all of humanity? …Nah, not forceful enough. Reconsider what you're doing? …That'll work." He was about to walk through his door and leave to tell his mother when Dialga and Giratina stepped in.

"Hey, Palkia!" Dialga grinned, more nervous than she had ever been. "How are you doing?"

"Fine." he answered. "…What are you guys doing?"

"Oh nothing much." she replied. "Checking out the Hall, played soccer with Landorus, did a bit of time-traveling… to save you from being murdered…" she whispered out the last part inaudibly.

"OK. Well, if you'll pardon me Dialga, I have to go talk to mother right now."

"Uhh, about what?" she continued, attempting to distract him. She sat in front of the door, refusing to budge. And with her weight, Palkia certainly wasn't moving her any time soon.

Palkia began to get suspicious. "Why are you trying to prevent me from leaving?"

"No reason." Dialga lied as she started to become visibly flustered.

Palkia looked at Dialga, unsure if what she was saying was truth or lies. "I don't know… how- …wait a second! Landorus doesn't have feet! He can't play soccer! Are you lying to me?!"

Dialga gulped nervously, before thinking of a fabricated lie on the spot. "Landorus can't play soccer in Incarnate Forme." Dialga told him. "We played it with him in Therian Forme."

Palkia was still unsure. Sure, that was still believable enough. "But that still doesn't explain why you're blocking my way!" he shouted.

_"Oh crap…"_ Dialga thought to herself. _"I gotta think of something else quick!"_

"So, you want to know how the soccer match went? It was quite a good one." she said, still sweating nervously and was VERY close to breaking.

"…Get out of my way, Dialga." It was then that Palkia went over to the left side of Dialga and unleashed a fully charged Aura Sphere, a Fighting type move super effective against Dialga. She slumped over to the right in excruciating pain, unable to move as well as unblocking the door. He headed out and came face to face with Giratina, who was outside his room and had created a Shadow wall to block Palkia from getting out. He levitated in front of it in Origin Forme.

"Oh come on." Palkia muttered. "Now YOU'RE blocking my way? What is WITH you guys? Why on earth are both of you so determined to prevent me from talking to Mom?!"

_"If only I could say that…" _Giratina thought.

"Get out of my way!" he repeated to Giratina, shouting this time.

Giratina stood his ground and refused to move or lift the barrier. "No."

Palkia stood there; ready to unleash his signature move on the Renegade Pokémon. "Spacial Rend!" he yelled, slashing a purple glow of cosmic energy towards Giratina.

Giratina held his ground, and waited for the attack to connect. "Shadow Force." Giratina said. Suddenly, Giratina disappeared, causing the attack to harmlessly be absorbed into the wall. Before Palkia knew what hit him, Giratina counter-attacked. While the attack did not do too much actual damage to the sturdy Palkia, it did disorient him. Giratina took advantage of and grabbed Palkia with his ghostly limbs, attempting to prevent him from escaping. With the limbs surrounding Palkia's entire body except for his head, it seemed that he wouldn't escape.

Or so it seemed.

Palkia managed to fire a Dragon Pulse out from his mouth, coming into direct contact with Giratina. The sudden and sharp pain caused him to accidentally release Palkia. He took this chance to fire another Spacial Rend at Giratina, knocking him down. With the two of them finally down and out, Palkia ran to the main Hall, intending to stop Arceus once and for all.

Both of the Dragons laid helplessly on the ground, knowing what fate would await Palkia.

"Great." muttered Giratina to Dialga who was still in Palkia's room. "We go back to the past, try to save him, and he kicks our tail ends. If things play out the same way they did the first time, then-"

Giratina was interrupted by Palkia's helpless shouts in the next room.

"A-Are you… going to kill me? You… wouldn't do that to your own son, right?"

SNAP!

The scream filled throughout the hall. Dialga and Giratina couldn't bear to hear his screams of pain again.

SNAP!

The scream was louder this time. And the two Dragons could easily tell how much pain Palkia was going through. Dialga attempted to get up, but Palkia had knocked her down well. Along with causing extremely painful injuries, the Aura Sphere Palkia launched at her zapped nearly all of her energy.

"Mom… stop it. Please."

His voice was more desperate this time. Instead of pain, more sorrow was in his tone. He was BEGGING with her. Pleading. Asking for mercy.

SNAP!

It was refused.

SNAP!

Came the awful noise again. At this point, Dialga and Giratina tried to block it out. But they couldn't. That was their brother being murdered, and both of them were powerless to stop it. Dialga tried to fight the tears again, not wanting to relive her brother's death.

Finally, a sheer will and determination filled her. Using all of her remaining power plus an adrenaline-fueled body, she forced time to rewind once more. Going back to an hour ago, she lost control over the time rewind and released it.

Both of them were back in the library.

* * *

><p><em>Hell<em>

_ Time: ?:?_

Palkia found himself once again staring at the roof of his small house. He couldn't believe what had just happened out there. Another victim had fallen prey to this sick and twisted game. He shuddered, thinking about what happened to him. And to think, he had almost fallen for the bait too.

He mused at what that blue blur possibly could have been. A large blue blur. It didn't take him long to connect the color blue and Dialga together.

"But… why did she appear?" he wondered. "If she didn't truly come here, then I must have been hallucinating. …Still, even if it was a hallucination, it was a hallucination that saved me from a fate even worse than my death."

He thought back to the events that had happened only a few hours. No matter how hard he tried, the mind scarring events wouldn't leave his head. His mind sailed to a million different places before he managed to settle on something that could give him solace.

"I'm hungry." he said.

"You don't get food down here." came a voice. Palkia looked at the small door to see Armaros coming through it.

"…What do you mean?" asked Palkia, who was both curious and confused about his statement.

"You don't know, do you? Well, I guess everyone else expected you to already know." Armaros sat down on his bed, staring at the floor. "You're never fed down here."

"No food?" Palkia muttered. "But, how do they expect you to be able to fight?"

"Well, problem is that you can't die down here because you're already dead. So you can't kill yourself or even die of starvation to escape. Believe me, if starvation or suicide could get us out of here, I would have already chosen the latter."

"…You'd really kill yourself?"

"If it meant getting out of here, then yes. In a heartbeat."

"…I'm starting to see where you're coming from…"

"…" Armaros remained silent.

"…Do you have any idea what's coming up next?"

"Yes. Lucifer keeps the order the same every time he decides to hold this. Lust is always the first day, and gets rid of almost every male down here. Although the first one, I will have to admit, is excruciatingly difficult, even for a veteran like me. It gets harder and harder to resist that beautiful demon's advances. Literally, the ONLY thing that stops my sexual desires from consuming me is thinking back to the wife I had before I died… There's nothing wrong with having sexual desires at all. It's when they consume your life that I believe is wrong. Anyway, I'm surprised you stopped mid-run towards her. Very few males have done that successfully, even the ones that had loving relationships with their wives. Heck, even some of the women couldn't resist her, and I don't exactly blame them. She IS a demon with the soul of a siren, after all. What power compelled you to stop?"

Palkia thought back to the blur appearing before his eyes, then answered Armaros's question. "I think it was a guardian angel, honestly." he smiled. "One I'm very thankful for."

Armaros set his claw on Palkia's shoulder. "Here's to hoping that he'll stick around for ya."

"She, actually." Palkia corrected him.

"Oh." said Armaros. "Well then, here's to hoping that SHE will still be here for you."

"Yeah." said Palkia. "Me too."

Armaros nodded. "I think we should get to rest. Wrath is up next."

Palkia crawled into his tiny bed before looking at Armaros. "Wrath? Should I dare ask how that one works?"

"It's the most destructive of all of the Seven Deadly Sins, in my opinion. Wrath works having your points of anger and stress amped up, to the point that you become blind with madness. The anger reaches a truly ridiculous degree during this test, and if your anger results in destruction, death, or ANY form of simply losing all control… you're out. And then you meet a fate not unlike Bowser's…"

After Armaros was done talking, he crawled up more into bed and fell asleep. Palkia simply couldn't get his mind off of this. He was still mad at Arceus for cursing him down here, and if what Armaros said was true, then he easily pictured himself becoming completely consumed by rage.

"…Dialga…" he muttered, trying to go to sleep. "Help me. Please…"

* * *

><p><em>Pokémon © Nintendo  Game Freak_

Yep. After 4 months, I finally publish an update to this story that you probably thought was long forgotten. However, the story still commands my interest. I apologize yet again for making you wait so long, but I hope you enjoy the chapter!


	8. Prototype Chapter 8 and Cancellation

From Death to Damnation

Prototype Chapter 8 and Cancellation

* * *

><p>AN: OK… man, I hate doing this. But it hasn't had an update for 6 months, so I think it's time all you readers know what's going on here. This fic has pretty much been… *sighs* abandoned. Don't blame yourselves or think it was from a lack of interest. Truth be told, it's my fault. I've created a narrative that I can't get out of. It's gotten needlessly complex, and contradictory as well. Perhaps the edit I had to make in the first chapter was a sign of it, but if it was, I certainly didn't realize it. I still have interest in this idea, but with the poor way I structured the narrative, my only hope to fix this fic would be to restart the fic. Just look back through the other 7 chapters before this one. It doesn't take a literary expert to see the bind I got myself into. I'm literally at a point with this fic with no hope to undo the massive plot holes and confusion I've made. So… yeah, it's cancelled. This and HM14 started as side projects that would be brief, but anyone who's read HM14 will know how THAT turned out. It's taken me two stories to realize this, but I understand now. I don't have the ability to write a brief 10-chapter kind of fic, because I feel like I'm sacrificing depth. My other major fics (Breaking the Chains, Slaves and Soldiers, Pokémon World Tour) had major pre-planning for them, and at least a general arc planned for them. This fic unfortunately suffered from extremely poor planning and story structure.

However, those who still want a religious-based fic from me shouldn't be too concerned. I plan to write a sequel to Breaking the Chains in the future. And if I can put this story out of the way, I can start pre-planning on BtC's sequel. BtC was a fic I loved doing, so instead of continuing FDtD, my focus will be going to planning BtC's sequel.

But I do feel that I owe you guys some consolation, so here the 'prototype' version of Chapter 8 that I've had in my computer for a while now… and by 'a while', I mean six months.

* * *

><p>Palkia stared at the ceiling of the small metal house again. For some reason, it gave him solace amidst all the chaos that happened in Hell. It was really the only thing he could do in Hell anyways. It was the early hours of the morning, or at least that's what it felt like. You had to go with your body clock. There was never a way to truly tell time down here.<p>

"Time…" he said. "Maybe if I had just had some more time back at the Hall, maybe I could've…" he said, stuttering and with his voice starting to rise. Wrath was already starting to influence him, with the day's new beginning.

"This whole mess could've just…!" he continued, his voice building up to as loud as the siren's song itself.

_ "This is her fault!" _he angrily yelled in the back of his head. _"All her fault! She's the reason I'm stuck here, fighting to escape fates worse than death! And all I did was try to save all of humanity from a powerful goddess of Pokémon who just turned psycho!"_

"I wouldn't be down in this damn place if it weren't for…!" he said, screaming at this point. He also furiously kicked the wall of the small metal house, causing a large dent.

_"Screw you, mom!" _he screamed, continued his mental war._ "She should be down here instead of me! She's the one who should be suffering this torment and this torture! All her fault! All her damn fault! She should just kill herself now so I can have the compensation prize of torturing her myself!"_

Armaros woke up abruptly, hearing Palkia unleash a loud string of profanities and vulgarities, with every single one directed at his mother.

_"This is only going to get worse. And he's not going to stop." _Armaros realized. He didn't want all the commotion Palkia was causing to give Palkia and him away. Reacting quickly, he used the skills he had picked up as an assassin. The strong lizard beast was able to put Palkia in a chokehold, forcing him to stop screaming and start struggling, albeit futilely. Armaros covered his mouth.

"Palkia." he whispered to him as Palkia began to calm. "Day 2 is already getting to you. Look at yourself. Swearing vengeance and vulgarities… you've GOT to get a hold of yourself."

Eventually, Palkia stopped struggling as Armaros released him. Just then, he seemed to recompose himself.

"What… what just happened?" he asked, as if he had just come out of a hypnotic trance. He looked at the large dent in the metal wall. "Did… I do that?"

"Wrath's already starting to try to take you down. This is the day when overflowing thoughts of hatred try to completely consume your mind. And given the fact that you were just swearing vengeance and vulgarities at your mother… you probably have plenty to be mad at."

"I probably do, don't I?" Palkia admitted. "You're the experienced one here. How do YOU keep yourself sane?"

"Well… it helps a lot if you focus on the good times. Thinking happier thoughts can keep you rational in the midst of rage."

"I guess I could try that." Palkia muttered. "But what's the plan for the rest of the day?"

"Me, I'm just going to stay here and meditate." Armaros told him.

"Meditate?"

"Yeah, it's really good for keeping calm, relieving stress, and all of that kind of stuff." he said, straightening his bed and climbing up to sit on it. "Care to join?"

"…No thanks. I'm going to… go for a walk."

Armaros wasn't sure about letting Palkia out by himself in this realm, especially after the violent display he just saw. Still, he reluctantly agreed. "If you say so…" Part of Armaros said to himself that he was going to regret this. He tried to just dismiss the feeling as Palkia departed…

* * *

><p>Palkia walked around the local area, the hellish landscapes not making his mood any better.<p>

_"I still blame Mom." _he thought to himself. _"But I can't let wrath get ahold of me again. There must be something I can do."_

And so, he started to think, lying against one of the many statues of Lucifer in the main 'plaza'. Thinking turned into pondering. And that pondering turned questioning. Questioning the entire existence of a guy like Lucifer.

"Where did this guy come from? How does this guy even rule this realm? Why does he?"

More questions poured into his head until he asked himself what he considered to be the real question: "…Why should he?" he said, death dripping from his tongue.

Wrath started to regain itself in Palkia's body, veins, and mind. The questioning of Lucifer started to turn into scheming. Scheming against him. His entire being filled up with rage, hatred, and revenge. And if he couldn't have revenge on his mother…

He would take revenge on Satan himself.

* * *

><p>Dialga breathed heavily as she recovered from the time warp, which had zapped nearly all of her energy away. Her legs quivered as she tried to stay up. Giratina looked around the area. "What time are we back at?" he asked Dialga.<p>

Dialga didn't respond.

"Dialga?" Giratina asked again.

Suddenly, she collapsed. Being thrashed by the Palkia of the past, combined with a desperation attempt to send them back once more, drained her of nearly all of her energy. She fell onto the floor of the library, unconscious.

"Dialga!" he shouted in worry, seeing her collapse. "Wake up, Dialga! Come on!" he yelled in panic, trying to get her up. He tried to use his own body weight to push Dialga back up, but she simply fell onto the floor again, still unconscious.

"That… that really must have taken a lot of energy out of her." Giratina realized. "I… I guess it's up to me now. But what can I do?"

He started to think, completely isolated in the library. _"Just how far back did Dialga warp us? I think she meant to go back only one hour, but after losing control like that… she could've gone back way farther."_

Giratina took a glance outside the window.

"It's night." he noticed. Looking around, he saw a computer. He recalled that when everything happened: the murder of Palkia, the scheming, and everything else… spring had just started in March. Snapping the computer out of its' screensaver, the date on the computer read: January 20th, 2012.

"January?!" he yelled, startled by the turn of events. "Dialga didn't send us back an hour; she sent us back TWO MONTHS!"

Giratina groaned, sitting against the wall. "Great. Just great. We haven't made any progress forward. Instead, we've stepped back an entire two months. Just what the hell am I supposed to do now?"

Giratina thought about this for a moment. "I can't use the revival spell. Palkia is alive at this point in time. If I did pretty much anything, I would drastically alter the future with the butterfly effect."

The last words he spoke rang in his ears. "…Drastically alter the future… that's it!"

Dashing out of the library, he ran towards Arceus' throne room, intending to warn her of the future events.

"Arceus! Arceus!" he yelled, dashing into the throne room.

"Glad to see you, Giratina." Arceus said, looking at him with a smile. "What brings you here?"

Giratina stopped to take in this moment. Arceus wasn't angry. Not the slightest bit.

* * *

><p>Pokemon (c) Nintendo  Game Freak

Sorry about everything again. I'm not going to say it again down here, but I still do appreciate all of the support from you guys.


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